Oxford University Press's
Academic Insights for the Thinking World

Science in the time of war: voices from Ukraine

On 23 February 2022, I drove back to Michigan after giving a talk at the University of Kentucky on genome diversity in Ukraine. My niece Zlata Bilanin, a recent college graduate from Ukraine, was with me. She was calling her friends in Kyiv, worried. A single question was on everyone’s mind: will there be a […]

Read More
Open Access Week 2023 at Oxford University Press

What does “community” mean to you?

The theme of this year’s Open Access Week is “Community Over Commercialisation”. As part of this, we’re looking at different definitions of “community” used within academic research.

Read More
Title cover of "Gravity: From Falling Apples to Supermassive Black Holes" by Nicholas Mee, published by Oxford University Press

Tuning in to the cosmic symphony: restarting LIGO

In 2015 history was made when LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) detected the first ever gravitational wave signal. This was an incredible technological achievement and the beginning of a completely new way of investigating the cosmos. The restart of LIGO and the global gravitational wave research network launches a new phase of deep space exploration.

Read More
Title cover of "Analysis" journal, published by Oxford University Press

Should animals have the right to vote?

Suppose it were suggested that animals’ interests would be even better protected if we recognized a right of political participation to animals. One way to do that would be to have human representatives cast votes on behalf of animals with respect to different legislative proposals.

Read More
Making Sense of the Molly Maguires 25th anniversary edition by Kevin Kenny, published by Oxford University Press

Making sense of the Molly Maguires today

Twenty Irish mine workers were hanged in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania in the 1870s, convicted of a series of murders organized under the cover of a secret society called the Molly Maguires. Here Professor Kenny discusses 10 things that helped him answer the questions at the heart of his book, “Making Sense of the Molly Maguires.”

Read More
Title cover of "Shakespeare without a Life" by Margreta de Grazia, published by Oxford University Press

On Shakespeare’s “illiteracy”

This year marks 400 years since the publication of Shakespeare’s First Folio, but why was he singled out for his lack of knowledge about classics, as well as his “illiteracy”?

Read More